A Peter Sidebottom Special.
It would be wrong to say I had high hopes of this. The Wine Society had (and still has) some great producer relationships, but we are not talking about a Musigny VV or similar, but a good 1er cru from a good year, but a good year 37 years ago.
So the first thing I did was think what Tom Blach would do. His recommendation for all red burgundies is to serve them at the same temperature as whites, so this was opened at cellar temperature. His second recommendation is to enjoy over an entire evening, as too often the point of maximum pleasure is missed. As always, wine cannot be enjoyed in a vacuum, so with what should I pair this? Mr O'Shea had some well priced grouse, at a mere £11.60 a bird, but I felt that might overpower the wine. Perhaps a chicken, but that is too safe - in the end, a little revolutionary on my part, a belly of pork simply roasted. Normally I have that with an auslese or similar, but I see absolutely no harm in it.
So this was poured straight from the bottle at cellar temperature, without any decanting. initial impressions were good. A decent cork, no taint. Immediately a very attractive nose of indian aromatic spices, black tea and sous bois. The colour of scarlet tending to russet with the pink brown of a Sam Browne belt towards the rim.
The palate is quite savoury, very very light, no evident sweetness, and a nice black tea quality, firm and and bright, but no noticeable tannin or prominent acidity. Perhaps a little caramel coming through, but a very attractive, slightly bitter cherry savour. Good so far.
With more time open, the colour seemed to become much more vigorous and youthful. A hint of leather and acetone creeps into the nose, but it still has the attractive black tea quality. Even with half an hour, the palate gets noticeably richer and a sweet cherry and strawberry fruit begins to make itself obvious. This is turning into quite a lively and attractive wine, quite charming and making a strong case for itself as being very much alive and kicking. This I would not have expected. The body continues to get richer and sweeter, the black tea element receding quite rapidly, and on the nose a charming hint of five spice and anise replacing the earlier more Indian spicing. Also, the merest hint of merde!
With the pork, this didn't fare too badly, belly being very rich, but the sweet fruit stood up well. Indeed, it made the wine more elegant, tres Chambertin. After two hours, this held up extremely well, no hints of decline or ashing.
However, one big problem emerges - the bottle seems to have run dry.
To be honest, I would never have thought how well this would show. A very honest, elegant and good wine in pristine condition. I have no idea how this might have tasted 10 years ago, but this was thoroughly enjoyable, and challenged my notions of Burgundy ageing. Perhaps some critics should try some older wines?
